The Yue Clan's eastern compound spread across a hillside overlooking the merchant district.
Wang Ben approached it with Master Feng Zhilan, his formation toolkit balanced across his shoulders and his cover identity firmly in place. The compound's architecture displayed the refined aesthetics of old wealth, every structure positioned to channel and preserve Ice essence with maximum efficiency.
"The main family compound is on the northern ridge," Feng Zhilan explained as they passed through the outer gate. "What you see here are secondary facilities. Storage, training grounds, staff quarters. The clan keeps their true power elsewhere."
"Impressive even so."
"The Yue Clan has held prominence in the kingdom for centuries. Their formations were old when the current dynasty was young." The old master's voice carried professional admiration. "I've been maintaining these arrays for forty years. They still surprise me."
Guards nodded them through checkpoints without inspection, recognizing Feng Zhilan's authority. Wang Ben kept his head down, playing the role of humble assistant, while his System cataloged everything he observed.
[FACILITY ASSESSMENT: Yue Clan Eastern Compound]
[Security level: High]
[Personnel: Approximately 200 visible, mixed cultivation levels]
[Formation coverage: Comprehensive defensive arrays, detection systems, privacy barriers]
[Notable features: Underground chambers (detected by qi flow patterns), restricted access areas]
[Elemental signature: Pure Ice dominant (92%), Water trace (6%), Other (2%)]
[Note: Formation work here exceeds standard kingdom quality. Ancient design elements suggest pre-dynasty origins]
The work itself was routine. Maintenance on storage facility arrays, calibration of temperature control formations, minor repairs to age-worn inscription lines. Wang Ben performed each task with the competence expected of Wei Ming, neither exceeding nor falling short of expectations.
But his eyes never stopped observing.
The opportunity came on the third day.
Feng Zhilan was called away to address an emergency at another facility, leaving Wang Ben to complete a minor array adjustment in one of the training grounds. The work required access to an observation platform overlooking the main practice area.
Below, a group of Yue Clan cultivators practiced techniques that made Wang Ben's breath catch.
They moved like winter itself given form. Ice essence flowed through their meridians with a purity that exceeded anything he had witnessed, their techniques channeling cold energy into shapes that defied normal cultivation limits. Even the weakest among them showed foundation establishment capability, and several displayed the smooth power of core formation mastery.
[OBSERVATION: Yue Clan combat training]
[Participants: 12 cultivators, foundation establishment to core formation range]
[Technique analysis: High-level Ice manipulation, bloodline-enhanced methods]
[Notable features: Techniques show genetic markers. These are not learned skills but inherited capabilities]
[Elemental purity: 97%+ Ice saturation in all participants]
[Comparison note: Host's current Ice saturation (63%) would appear significantly diluted to these cultivators]
Bloodline techniques, Wang Ben realized. The kind that can't be taught, only inherited.
And then he noticed something else.
The qi patterns flowing through their techniques carried signatures that felt familiar in ways they shouldn't have. Echoes of something he had sensed before, in a different context, under very different circumstances.
His mother. When her sealed bloodline flickered with suppressed Ice energy, the pattern was similar to what he was seeing now.
The same bloodline, he thought. Mother's connection to these people is written in their qi.
"You observe with unusual attention."
The voice came from behind him, cold as the formations that surrounded the compound. Wang Ben's heart slammed against his ribs as he turned to find an elderly woman studying him with eyes that held centuries of accumulated scrutiny.
[THREAT DETECTION: Unannounced approach]
[Subject: Female, elderly appearance, cultivation EXTREME (precise classification unavailable)]
[Pressure magnitude indicates realm far beyond immediate analysis capability]
[Affiliation: Likely Yue Clan elder based on positioning and dress]
[Qi signature: Pure Ice, 99%+ saturation, bloodline markers visible]
[Risk assessment: EXTREME. Subject could eliminate host instantly if hostile intent develops]
[Recommendation: EXTREME CAUTION. Any hostile action would be fatal]
His legs wanted to buckle. The air itself seemed to have thickened, pressing against him with a weight that made breathing difficult. Wang Ben bowed immediately, hoping the motion would hide the tremor in his hands. "Honored elder. Forgive my intrusion. Master Feng assigned me to adjust the observation platform arrays, and I couldn't help but admire the training."
"Master Feng Zhilan is not here." The elder's voice held no particular accusation, but her attention was a weight Wang Ben could feel pressing against his cultivation signature. "You work alone."
"He was called to another facility. The adjustment here is minor. I expected to complete it without troubling anyone."
"And yet here you stand, watching my grandchildren practice techniques that are not meant for outside eyes."
Grandchildren. The word carried implications Wang Ben filed away even as he maintained his humble posture.
"I meant no offense, honored elder. The artistry of their cultivation is remarkable. As a formation specialist, I'm drawn to patterns of efficiency."
The elder was quiet for a long moment. Then she moved closer, her presence pressing against Wang Ben's consciousness with the weight of power that exceeded anything he had faced before.
"Your qi is unusual." Her voice was thoughtful rather than accusatory. "I sense elements that should not coexist so peacefully. Ice and Fire. Water and Metal. Earth and traces of Dark."
She's reading my cultivation base. Panic shot through Wang Ben like ice water. His throat tightened. His pulse hammered so loudly he was certain she could hear it. She can see the elemental mixture.
He forced his breathing to stay even, forced his face to remain calm despite the terror clawing at his chest.
"I've traveled extensively, honored elder. Border territories, contested regions. The qi I've absorbed reflects many environments."
"That would explain dilution. It does not explain harmony." The elder's eyes narrowed. "Tell me, Wei Ming of the border territories. Where were you born?"
The question cut deeper than any technique could have. Wang Ben's cover identity had an answer prepared, but the elder's attention suggested she would detect lies.
"A small village near the boundary zones," he said carefully. "My parents were refugees from earlier conflicts. I never knew them well before they died."
"And your bloodline? What do you know of your ancestry?"
"Nothing certain. The records were lost." Wang Ben met her eyes, projecting honest uncertainty. "I know only what my body tells me. That I adapt to environments more easily than most."
The elder studied him for what felt like an eternity compressed into moments. Then, slowly, her pressure eased.
"Adaptation is a valuable trait. Many with mixed heritage develop it as compensation for lacking strong singular affinity." Her voice had shifted from interrogation to something almost like academic interest. "You might have Yue blood in you, far back. Our clan spread widely in ancient times. Many branches were lost to history."
"If so, honored elder, I would be honored by such connection, however distant."
"Perhaps." The elder turned away, her attention already moving to other matters. "Complete your work and depart. Master Feng may trust you, but the clan's facilities are not meant for extended observation by outsiders."
"Of course, honored elder. My apologies for any intrusion."
She walked away without further acknowledgment, leaving Wang Ben alone with the racing of his heart and the cold sweat that coated his skin beneath his robes.
Mortal shedding realm, he thought. One of the Yue Clan's most powerful. And she noticed something wrong about my qi.
He had survived. But the near-exposure had revealed how thin his cover truly was.
...
The vision came that night.
Wang Ben had fallen into an exhausted sleep, his mind processing the day's stress and the elder's probing examination. The dream started normally, fragments of memory and worry blending together.
Then something invaded his mind.
He stood in a vast chamber of ice, its walls carved with formations more ancient than anything he had ever seen. Figures moved around him, their faces unclear but their presence radiating power that made the Yue elder seem insignificant by comparison.
They are bound, a voice spoke, neither male nor female but something older than either. Bound and feeding. Feeding and suffering. Suffering forever.
The figures weren't people, he realized. They were souls, trapped in crystalline ice, their mouths open in screams that had been echoing for millennia. They hung suspended in geometric patterns, arranged according to some terrible logic that made his mind flinch away from understanding.
This is what they seek, the voice continued. What they have always sought. The place where their ancestors learned to feed on what should not be consumed.
Wang Ben tried to look away but found he couldn't. The souls were aware of him. They turned their frozen faces toward his presence, and their eyes held something worse than suffering.
Hope. They hoped he might free them.
Remember, the voice urged. Remember what they did. Remember what they are. Remember who they hunted.
The ice began to crack. The souls began to scream. And Wang Ben...
He woke gasping, his body drenched in sweat despite the room's cold temperature.
The dream's images lingered, too vivid to be simple imagination. Trapped souls. Ancient chambers. Feeding on what should not be consumed.
[ANALYSIS: Anomalous mental intrusion detected]
[Classification: UNKNOWN - does not match Archive patterns]
[Warning: This event differs from standard memory-bleed phenomena]
[Memory-bleeds contain Archive information from external source. This vision contains local Azure Sky World content with no corresponding Archive records]
[Possible explanations:]
[1. Psychic imprint from physical location (Founding Site proximity effect)]
[2. Bloodline ancestral memory (Yue Clan genetic heritage via host's maternal line)]
[3. Entity communication attempt (imprisoned consciousness reaching outward)]
[4. Unknown spiritual phenomenon beyond current classification capability]
[Confidence: Insufficient data]
[Recommendation: Document experience. Treat as intelligence of unknown origin. Connection to "Founding Site" and Yue Clan activities is probable but mechanism remains unexplained]
Wang Ben sat in the darkness, processing what he had seen.
The Yue Clan wasn't just searching for an ancient site. They were searching for a place where something terrible had been done. Where their ancestors had committed acts that the voice in his dream had called prohibited.
Remember what they did, the voice had said. Remember who they hunted.
His mother had been hunted by the Yue Clan. Marked for death. Hidden by Xu Lanying, his great-grandmother, before the purge could claim her.
What had Xu Lanying known? What had she discovered that made her protect Li Mei instead of letting the purge continue?
The questions multiplied, but answers remained distant. Wang Ben settled back onto his bed, knowing sleep would not return easily.
Tomorrow, he would continue the mission. Continue gathering intelligence.
But now he understood that the stakes were higher than he had imagined.
The Yue elder's words echoed in his memory as dawn lightened the frozen sky.
You might have Yue blood in you, far back.
She had meant it as an explanation for his unusual elemental adaptation. But Wang Ben heard something else in the words.
Recognition. The beginning of a connection that might either save or damn him.
The expedition departs tomorrow, he had overheard someone say during his time in the compound. The eastern forests. Another attempt to find what we've lost.
He needed to follow that expedition. Needed to learn what the Yue Clan sought so desperately.
The mission had just become more complicated. And more urgent.